Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay

The blue crab (Callinectus sapidus, the beautiful savory swimmer) is among the most truly named of species. Swimming together, locked in love's embrace, the graceful pairs of jimmies and sooks will swim across the Chesapeake Bay if needed be to find proper eel grass for her nuptial moulting. The lady's fingernails (big claw ends) turn red at this time. And cooked with crab-boil, mounded on brown butcher paper, steaming hot, melted butter at hand, nothing is finer, more savory eating."Beautiful Swimmers" is William Warner's magnificent story of the blue crab, the women and men who go down to the sea in low-gunn'ld boats well before dawn to work their crab pots, the way of life of their communities and forebears, the great Chesapeake Bay itself, and the impacts of urbanization on this way of life. Warner spent several years and many many hours with the watermen learning about the crabs, then a significant part of the Bay's economy and its ecology. His research shows in each chapter, yet nothing is academic, "quaint," or preachy.Warner's writing is is a joy to read, aloud if possible, or silently. It is crystalline, free of hyperbole or hysteria while presenting the impacts on the Bay of urbanization & our hunger for crabs, tenderly appreciative of the crab itself, and honoring as they should be honored, the communities and the people whose lives require complex skills, deep attention to wind and water, and enormous courage. For some years, I sailed now & again from a small island community (Cobb Island) on the Potomac, where people lived by crabbing in summer and oystering in winter. Warner has nailed it: this is what it feels like, this is what the crabs are like, and lordy, lordy, this is how they taste served hot at Captain John's.Written in the 1970s, "Beautiful Swimmers" is, of course, a picture of that not-so-long ago time. One hopes Warner has contributed to preserving the waters, the eel-grasses, the communities, and the blue crabs themselves, beautiful & savory. Perhaps things have changed for the better.A book to read, to enjoy, to learn from, to admire. I have no negatives or yes-buts, other than noting my appreciation of the reprints so "Beautiful Swimmers" remains available and mentioning readers may find enjoyment of the first/earlier editions' maps and splendid line drawings.

If you live in the Chesapeake Bay area this a must read. My family has been in the area sine James Town. I grew up with all the tales from the area. My cousins ran moonshine, buried it at low tide, sold it on the nest low tide. It's just sad to see the environmental problems caused by over population and the disrespect for nature.

This book is a delight. It is the story of the Maryland Blue Crab that lives in the Chesapeake Bay. Boring, you say? Not so, I say. The book has all the scientific information about Callinectes sapidus (beautiful swimmer), the official name of the Maryland Blue Crab, and the science is very interesting and well written. But, this is a love story about romantic crabs. Did you know that the jimmy (the male crab) carries the sook (the female) on his back all the way across the bay for mating? It could take two days for them to make it to the other side. This book also gives us insights into the hard lives of the watermen who catch these crabs for our consumption. They deserve our admiration, too.

This is the classic informative and entertaining story of the Chesapeake bay's most precious creature. Beautiful Swimmers gives us both the scientist's version and the seasoned waterman's view of the blue crab's life. Harvesting methods, molting, and the critical balance of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

Well written, informative with humor. Disappointed in outer cover. Book not wrapped to protect in box, it is a book, to hold while reading and keep, and yet cover was bent, dirty, scratched and sticky. Wanted to read before trip, so kept. Still a good read

If your are from Maryland or just love crabs, believe me this is a fascinating , lovely book. Nature never ceases to amaze.

Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay Hardcover by William Warnerand drawings by Consuelo HanksI love this book! I ordered this second hand from Amazon, delivered free with Prime and it came lovingly wrapped and inside a zip lock bag, where it remains for safe keeping. A wonderful saga reported in this Pulitzer Prize winning book detailing the lives and exploits of the fishermen and crabbers of the Chesapeake Bay Area. The author writes wonderfully and with honest sympathy of the hard but worthwhile lives of the Bay Fishermen. If you would like a wonderfully written intreaging story of the watermen of the Chesapeake Bay this will be your fantastic escape into their lives and struggles to make a living from the Bay waters.

This is a fantastic book from a gifted author.

What a delightful book. But I am biased, as I have friends in Annapolis, and visit occasionally. I have sailed on the Chesapeake Bay, and so am fascinated to find out more about it. But I do think that it is intrinsically very appealing, well written and with interesting descriptions of the people as well as the history of crab and other fishing.

A well researched book now of historic value as over 40years old.